vote early. late harvest.
Everything feels upside down again this year. Not only can New Yorkers enjoy early voting again this year, but my garden also continues to surprise me.
Early Voting
This afternoon we took a break from work and walked to an early voting location. In addition to choosing elected officials, there were also several Ballot Proposals to vote on. I could write at length about how the loss of local newspapers has created challenges to informed voting, but instead I’ll share links I’ve found relevant to voters in New York State.
New York State Voting
If you vote in New York, you can read about all five 2021 Statewide Ballot Proposals. They include proposals to set the number of state senators and the redistricting process, an amendment to the state constitution to establish the right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment, changes to the advance voter registration requirement, authorization of no-excuse absentee ballot voting, and to increase the jurisdiction of New York City Civil Court. As to the NYC Court issue, it’s spelled out in the state constitution, so it apparently needs state-wide approval.
Westchester County
There is one additional question for Westchester County, the text is available as a PDF. In short, it asks if the County of Westchester should amend its laws to enact a new and comprehensive code of ethics and clarify how oversight, implementation, and enforcement occurs.
Other areas
Yes, there’s the NYC mayoral race, perhaps you’ve heard about it. While the results of it will likely have some impact to my life, I can’t vote in that race. The official website for NYC is voting.nyc.
It still feels weird to vote on any day other than the first Tuesday. It does feel good to cross it off my task list early and not worry that for some unknown reason I won’t get a chance to do it on election day. No matter where you live, if you’re able — please vote!
Late Harvest
After our extreme weather recently, I’m not surprised and I have mixed feelings about how the garden looks much like it did in early September. On Monday I picked some raspberries and took photos of new blossoms in the yard. Both the wisteria and hydrangea keep pushing out color. The azalea has grown significantly in the past month and it also is creating new buds.
Today I took these photos of our tomatoes and these peppers that started growing last week.
No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. There are new blossoms on that tomato plant!
What does this all mean? What can we do? Are we all doomed?
I think if we are mindful and while our personal choices may feel as if they have no effect, we should still try to do what we can to make the world a better place. It’s also important to vote as policies can have a more immediate impact (for better … or for worse).
